Springfield Falcons working to stay out of penalty box

Springfield Falcons goalie Curtis McElhinney, making a sprawling save Sunday against Portland at the MassMutual Center, was named the AHL goalie of the month for October. Michael Beswick

SPRINGFIELD – With Springfield-born cousins Barry Almeida and T.J. Syner in their lineup, the Hershey Bears make their only visit to the MassMutual Center Friday night to face the Springfield Falcons.

While many in the crowd will be keeping a close watch on Almeida and Syner, Springfield coach Brad Larsen will be keeping a close watch on the penalty box.

If all goes well, he won’t see too many of his Falcons there. That was the objective in practice this week – to cut down on the problems that lead to penalty minutes.

The Falcons stand 5-1-0-1 for their best start since 1997-98, when they also went 5-1-0-1. Yet the lingering question about this team is: Can it keep winning if it continues to wear down the penalty-kill units?

“It’s been more from being unfocused, not from being lazy,” Larsen said. “We’ve had those one-second lapses when something goes wrong, and there’s a penalty. We’re doing things to address that, because penalties force you to waste energy.”

The coach wouldn’t elaborate on how the problem is being addressed, calling it “an in-house issue,” but it’s obvious he expects to see results Friday against the Bears, and Sunday night, when the Falcons make their first of six trips to Hartford.

“You can live with, say, 1½ penalties per period, but when you’re taking 8-9-10 penalties a game, you have to work hard and then some to do the job, and that disrupts everything,” Larsen said.

The Falcons have been short-handed an average of 6.75 times per game. They have killed 40 of 46 penalties.

“We’ve been doing good things, but we still have a long way to go,” Larsen said. “I like our effort, our willingness to compete and our attention to detail, but there’s always something to work on, and that’s the coaching staff’s job.”

Hershey comes to the MassMutual Center with a 3-3-1-0 record. The Bears have 21 goals for, 21 against.

Local hockey observers of long standing believe this will mark the first time two Springfield-born players will play together in their home town in an American Hockey League game.

Almeida and Syner both played for the Springfield Junior Falcons before going on to Division I hockey. Almeida played on two NCAA championship teams at Boston College; Syner served as co-captain at UMass.

In addition to Almeida and Syner, the Bears have 10-year AHL veteran Jon DiSalvatore, a former Providence College and Springfield Junior Coyotes player; Ryan Potulny, a 38-goal scorer for the Falcons in 2008-09; Jeff Taffe, who scored 23 goals here in 2002-03; and goaltender Dany Sabourin, who played 13 games for the Falcons late in the 2008-09 season.

Springfield’s hot start has been fueled by a defense that has allowed only 1.71 goals per game. Goaltender Curtis McElhinney already has two shutouts, putting his average at 1.51. For his efforts, McElhinney on Thursday was named CCMA/AHL goaltender of the month for October. He will be presented with an etched crystal award prior to an upcoming game.

ICE CHIPS: Goaltender Paul Dainton incurred an injury in practice this week, and the Falcons recalled Mike Clemente from Missouri of the Central League. Clemente, a former Brown University goaltender, had a 2-0-1 record with Missouri ... In the season opener for both teams, Western New England and Westfield State will meet at 3:30 p.m. Friday in their fifth annual Falcon Cup matchup at the MassMutual Center. WNE was supposed to open Monday at Stonehill, but the game was postponed because of the storm ... The Falcons had 5-1-0-1 starts in 1995-96 and 1997-98. In each case, the team made the playoffs. The ‘98 team set a franchise record of 42 victories .¤.¤. Ryan Johansen of the Falcons, an NHL center last season with Columbus, has three goals in seven games, including two game-winners ... Defenseman John Moore, another NHL player, leads the Falcons with a plus-8 rating. 